Improvement in earth-closets



vwzrd mes WILLIAM ROBERT COTTON CLARK, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

Lette/rs Patent No. 102,494, dated .Ma-y 3, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN EARTH-CLOSETS.

The Schedule -referredto in these Letters Patent and making para of the same I, WILLIAM ROBERT COTTON CLARK, of the city ot' New Orleans and State ot Louisiana, have invented a certain Improvement in Earth-Closets and Commodes, of which the following is a specification.

My invent-ion relates to the mechanical construction of those parts of' earth-closets and commodes which are employed to contain and to precipitate, in regulated quantity, dry earth, or other absorbing and deodorizing subst-ance upon the excreia deposited in such closets or commodes, with theobject of utilizing the saine as a fertilizer without delay, whilst, at the 'same time, destroying` the bad odors thereof, and thus remedying the evil eliects, resulting therefrom, to the health of cities, towns, and other places in which peo- A ple are congregated in large nmnbers.

My invention is an imprm'ementon all my other arrangements for accomplishing the same object, because it is far more simple, less liable to get out of order, and more edcieut in operation.

The drawing is a sectionalrepresentation ot' my im'- provement, the line of bisect-ion -being' through the center otan earth-closet in which it is placed, from the iront to the rear.

On the drawing- A is a hopper, t-o contain the deodorizing subst-ance, which, tapering from its open top to its bottom, as shown, terminates in an open shoe or box, B, which is placed at right angles to its iiont side, and so connected with the hopper as t-o project under the seat C ot' the closet or commode a little beyond the rear of the hole I.) of the said seat, whenever the front side of the hopper occupies ya vertical posit-ion, which is always the case when the cover Eis down on the seat, for, the hopper A is suspended, by hinges or their equivalents, at F, in such manner that, whilstit may be oscillated backward with ease, it will always resume this position under the influence of its gravity the'instant it is left free to do so, and with considerable rapidity of motion.

One good substitute for ordinary 'hinges for sustaining the hopper. would be a circular iron'bar, passing through eye-bolts fixed in the frame ofthe closet, and scoured by means of any proper form ot' straps, tov the hopper at its front upper corner.

The means for operating the hopper' are very si mple. I secure on the rear edge of the hinged cover E, two metallic plate angles or elbows, a, so as to provide a narrow space between them and have them project upwardly at right angles to the planes of the upper and lower surfaces of' the cover, from six to twelve inches above the upper surfaces ot the cover E.

Between these elbows I-place two transverse bars, one at the angle, as shown at b, and one a little in advancethereot', as shown at lc. The bar b extends upwardly foran inch or tw, whilst cis merely a small square bar, as shown.

At a point a little above the upper surface of the cover E, when it is closed down on the seat, I 'pivot to the side of the hopper a pawl or trigger', G. This trigger is provided with a no 'tch on its lower side at its extremity, as shown, which ts over the bai-c whenever the coverE is up, oiitheseat D, thelength v of the trigger' heilig adjusted so as to produce this result, andto keep the notch always directly inipinging against the bar c until the cover is brought down on the seat, when the bar b strikes against the trigger behind the notch, throws the latter ont of connection with the bar c, and permits. thehopper to swing back against the rear edges of the Seat and cover.

To prevent noiseVV by the concussion,'cushions ot leather or other material may be placed on the said edges of the seat and cover. i f

IIhe hopper is moved back by the upwardly-projecting ends of the elbows a in a gradualmanner, by the raising ot' the seat, so that. little or no earth is thrown out of the shoe B by the operation; but, in its rapid swing back and sudden stoppage by the rear edges of the seat and cover, all the earth near the open mouth ot the shoe Bis thrown out of the same, and precipitated on the excreta by its momentum merely. This isthe mode iu which my improvement operates, and I have found, by lactual experiment, that it works with the utmost precision and certainty.- The quantity of earth precipitated is regulated by the size oi' the shoe B; but, it' necessary, double the prescribed quantity can be thrown out by repeating the 'operation, that yis to say,` by raising and lowering the cover a second time.

That I claim as my invention islhe combination of a swinging hopper, A, provided with a shoe, B, and a notched' trigger, G, with an earth -elset `or commode, which is provided with a hinged cover, E,in connection with elbows ,bars c and b, when the parts are constructed, arranged, and operate as herein described, for the purpose set forth.

Witnesses: \V. R.l CLARK.

RUTUs R. Rhones, H. N. JENKINS. 

